usBBBAAA
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16 July 2020 - 10:31pm

Bovada "technical error" grants me $50,000 poker bonus

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I have a story.

A couple days ago I got a very interesting bonus offer on Bovada. It was called "Poker Reload Exclusive | VIP Hosted" and said the bonus amount was $50,000 to be used only on Poker. So I looked online for any information regarding the bonus, and finding none, decided to try a deposit with the bonus selected. I deposited $475ish and saw my bonus funds jump to $50,000. At this point I have convinced myself it's real and am busy figuring out how much I would need to play to clear the bonus (it was about $10,000 in rake or tourney fees).

It was quite late so I only briefly jumped into some Rush Poker and took about $200 from someone all-in. To my surprise, that $200 profit is considered real money. Confused but excited, I went to sleep. The next morning, the bonus was still there and I started looking at all the glorious tournaments I was going to play. A few minutes into my browsing, my bonus balance dropped back to $0. I continued to play some low stakes slots more a few minutes more until my account was then locked.

I emailed support and received a "we are experiencing technical difficulties" response, followed the next day by an email stating "Due to a technical issue, an incorrect bonus was applied to your account this morning and we've had to temporarily disable it while we investigate." Eventually, maybe 2 days later, I finally get an email saying my account is turned back on and that I will be receiving a phone call to "explain the situation." That phone call was essentially some poor customer service employee who they threw to the wolves to apologize.

Oddly, I was allowed to keep the $200 or so that I won off someone (who will surely never be reimbursed for losing to someone using an "incorrect bonus") which leads me to believe many people profited greatly (or at least varying amounts) off this mistake. They offered me a 100% deposit bonus up to $100, which I declined because I think that's an absurd offer considering the situation. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth and I'm leaning towards closing my account once I'm done withdrawing my balance. I'd be curious to hear if anyone has experienced anything like this, or has any thoughts on how they might react in a similar situation.

auCL-Ed
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17 July 2020 - 1:17am
#1

That is very strange. We've seen many times over the years where casinos give out a bonus with the wrong wagering requirements (usually too low) and they get hammered by smart players. Some try to unwind it all and refuse to pay out while others wear it. I can't recall ever seeing a site give out a bonus of that amount though. Maybe someone forgot the decimal point in $500.00?

Without seeing anyone else reporting the same thing it is impossible to know whether anyone else was credited with a similar bonus. Perhaps it was an offer tailored to you personally because of your recent big jackpot win. Casinos often do that to try to encourage you to play back some of your winnings.

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usBBBAAA
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17 July 2020 - 1:51am
#2

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I was told 200 people (ie, $10,000,000 total) received it so they were definitely in damage control trying to freeze and unwind everything they could.

They definitely aren't tailoring any bonuses for me. After winning a bunch on their sister site slots.lv they told me I'm a "skilled player" and no longer eligible for bonuses, and I think that also effected Bovada bonuses. Which is borderline insane considering I just got very, very lucky on a crazy run of slots and was down $20-30k the majority of the time before hitting 2 huge jackpots. Seems like the perfect time to offer someone bonuses right? Well, they seem to be encouraging me to walk away while I'm at my high point so I should probably take their unintended advice!

Matthew

auCL-Ed
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17 July 2020 - 2:09am
#3

Wow in that case it is a bad mistake. I can see why they let you keep the winnings though because they are going to get grief either way. While you won with the bonus money others may have lost so if they unwind it all then the players who won against someone with the bonus are going to be angry that they lost their winnings.

Someone will be copping it in the office for that mistake.

And yeah, take that unintended advice and bank your winnings.

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usbarbadosslim93
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17 July 2020 - 6:23pm
#4

Wow, it's crazy to see something like that. What a large sum of money to seemingly give out. Do you think whoever issued will be fired?

usReckless Bets
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17 July 2020 - 9:49pm
#5

I got a similar "offer" but it was 50,000 bonus points, not dollars, after depositing (which at my rewards level equated to a bonus value of $100). Wonder if that was what they had meant to do for you?

usBBBAAA
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17 July 2020 - 10:57pm
#6
barbadosslim93 wrote:

Wow, it's crazy to see something like that. What a large sum of money to seemingly give out. Do you think whoever issued will be fired?

That was my first thought! Someone is definitely getting fired.

usBBBAAA
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17 July 2020 - 10:58pm
#7
Reckless Bets wrote:

I got a similar "offer" but it was 50,000 bonus points, not dollars, after depositing (which at my rewards level equated to a bonus value of $100). Wonder if that was what they had meant to do for you?

That does make a lot of sense if that's what it was supposed to be, as bonuses usually aren't fixed amounts unless they are points.

usButtBongoFiesta
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21 July 2020 - 1:55pm
#8

I'm a "skilled player" on all four of the Bovada sites. But at least on Bovada I can still earn points. Just no bonus's are available to me anymore.

usReckless Bets
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21 July 2020 - 9:48pm
#9

Other than the welcome bonus, Bovada has never really offered me deposit bonuses. I just assumed that want their thing. Wonder if me getting shut off from Cafe Casino bonuses had an impact there (though Slots.lv still offers them to me).